Customer Reviews

The Return of the Earl

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This is not a book filled with sex, zany characters, or anything paranormal. It is a traditional book. It is filled with good strong characters with a story to tell. You will enjoy the build up to the ending.

In 1800, Sir Gideon accused Lord Geoffrey Sauvage and his twelve year old son Christian falsely of stealing. Geoffrey and Christian are convicted and placed on the Retribution, heading to the South Seas. Geoffrey provides strength to his son and two other boys Amyas and Daffyd as they set sail as convicts. However, because of Geoffrey's skills to make money for his clients honed as an aristocratic working class soul, he makes a fortune for himself and his three charges.

Fifteen years later, Christian arrives in England to claim the Earldom from his cousin Hammond, whose future in-laws are irate. Christian points out the so-called accidents that have eliminated the last five earls and plans not to be number six. Hammond sends for Julianne Lowell, sister of Christian's best childhood friend now dead, to identify whether he is the real thing. As Julianne and Christian fall in love, she is not sure though he looks somewhat like the person she knew in childhood. Whether he is or is not does not matter to someone who plans to add the upstart to the list of dead earls.

This is an enjoyable Regency romantic suspense that will remind readers of the movies The Return of Martin Guerre and Somersby as Julianne is not certain if the man she loves is an imposter or the real Christian. The story line action-packed, but the characters make the tale with many containing negative feelings towards others. Fans will enjoy this delightful tale in which the earldom is apparently the most dangerous position in England in spite of the Napoleonic War.

Harriet Klausner

Christian returns to England after 15 years of exile. He, along with his father and two other boys, were sent to New South Wales after being convicted of theft. He returns with the knowledge that he has inherited the Earldom of Egremont, a grand estate. However, the Earls of Egremont do not seem to be living very long. A cousin also lays claim to the Earldom and Christian must prove his existance.

Enters Julianne. To her, Christian is a connection to her brother, who died in the war. A former childhood friend, she befriends Christian in hopes of keeping her brother alive and to discover if he actually is the boy she vaguely remembers.

There is family intrigue and lots of "getting to know" you moments in this book. However, something is missing from the main characters. To me, there is a lack of passion between the main characters. The kisses were luke warm and the consummation was ho-hum. I did not feel that this couple felt a burning for each other. I also did not think that Christian did much to earn Julianne's loyalty so quickly. This type of love may work for some readers though. I, however, prefer more passion in my books. THE RETURN OF THE EARL is my first book by Ms. Layton and will probably be my last.

Edith Layton is one of my auto-buys. I have found her books, over the years, to "hit all of the right buttons" for my own personal tastes. However, in fairness, I have found some of her recent efforts, particularly the anthology offerings, to be a little off form. And, this story is definitely not, to my mind at least, up to the standards I know she can achieve.

I had the feeling, somehow, that the author may have had something personal troubling her and this overshadowed The Return of the Earl. Somehow, the narrative and its flow seemed forced as if she were struggling to get the novel over and done with to satisfy her publisher. The quality of the prose was not up to her usual standard - I felt there were too many awkward turns of phrase and too many instances of modern overtones in the language. I do realise she was trying to get across that her characters had lived in a criminal environment but somehow this just did not work for me.

The story, which has been well summed up by other reviewers seemed a little stretched and turned on hidden identities - something I personally don't care for. And, sadly, I just could not feel any tug of attraction to the hero, Christian - perhaps because until the end of the novel he was too embroiled in his deception. Frankly, I could not see what Julianne saw in him and the old childhood connection with her dead brother was weak and insipid as a plot device.

Perhaps I am being a little hard on this book - others whose opinions here I usually agree with have liked the book more than I did but I note that none of them were ecstatic either. I have read the follow up to this, Alas My Love, and will post my thought on it as well. Of the two, I think this, particularly as the opening offering of a trilogy, was really too uninspiring to be anything like a keeper.

The good news is that Edith Layton's latest novel is a well written one with a sensible and likable hero and heroine, and a good story that promised to be a good read; the bad news is that once I had finished the book, I couldn't help feel as if that promise of a good, intriguing and absorbing read hadn't really materialize.

Christian Sauvage was a child of 12 when he and his father were accused and convicted of theft. And because they were related to the powerful Earl of Egremont, and because the earl didn't want too much scandal associated with his name, Christian and his father were not hanged but transported to Botany Bay instead. Now, almost fifteen years later, Christian receives news that he is the new Earl of Egremont. Determined to clear his and his father's names, Christian crosses the seas to claim the title, throwing his remaining relatives into a dither of confusion and anger. Is Christian really who he claims to be, or is he an impostor? For Sophie Wiley who is all set to marry Hammond Sauvage (the one everyone thought was the heir before Christian turned up), there can be little doubt. And with her parents' contrivance, sends for her charming and sensible cousin, Julianne Lowell, who knew Christian before he was transported, to see if Julianne can trip up the impostor. Will Julianne expose the newcomer as an impostor, or will she recognize him as her childhood playmate? And will it matter either way? For Julianne has made the distressing realization that she's very much attracted to the man who calls himself 'Christian' and that she's rather hoping that he does indeed turn out to be the new Earl of Egremont...

If you're in a mood for a talky kind of romance novel, then "The Return of the Earl" will be your cup of tea. For a little more than half the novel nothing much happens except for the characters talking and rehashing certain issues over and over again: Christian and Julianne getting to know each other a little more and growing closer to each other (something I really liked), to Sophie's constant throwing some fit or the other (which I quickly grew bored with), and trying to manipulate/blackmail Julianne to doing her bidding... I rather like talky novels, but even I was looking for something or the other to happen. Of course something does -- but so does a whole lot more talking as well! And then there was the one niggle I had with the entire premise of "The Return of the Earl:" was Christian and his father pardoned by the Crown for their supposed crimes? Did I miss that bit somewhere in my reading? Because unless they were, I rather doubt that Christian could have returned to England, much less inherit a title. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Christian and Julianne as a couple. I haven't come across such a grown-up, mature and intelligent hero and heroine in a long while (we're usually lucky if either the hero or the heroine is mature and intelligent). All in all a mixed reaction from me: I loved the romance but felt that more could have been done with the unfolding of the storyline, esp the bit that dealt with Christian's attempts to establish his and his father's innocence.

I immediately fell in love with both the hero and the world of this book! Return of the Earl is a perfect union of romance and intrigue. This book combines fabulous and fascinating characters with real suspense and plot twists that keeps you turning pages. I would highly recommend this book to everyone!

Setting - England, 1810 --- Taking one long look at the clear blue sky Geoffrey Sauvage and his 12 year old son Christian stepped down into the darkness of the belly of the Retribution - a prisoner transport that would take them to New South Wales and away from England for fifteen years. Fifteen years later, a man claiming to be Christian Sauvage has returned to England after receiving a letter notifying him that he was the new Earl of Egremont. Having been a child when he left who was to say that he was that same person.

The young woman, engaged to marry the other claimant for the earl's title remembered that her cousin, Julianne Lowell, knew Christian before he was transported and invited her for a visit, never telling her the true reason and hoping to prove Christian as an imposter. As the battles raged over who was the rightful heir it was hoped that, Julianne, sister to the Christian's best childhood friend might be able to identify him through some common recollections of childhood memories. Julianne remembered the young lad, but the handsome man with brilliant blue eyes was an enigma. The more time spent together she felt that he was that young lad grown up, yet she couldn't say for certain as the elegant, well-bred and polite, grown man simply stole her breath away.

This was a beautifully written and entertaining story of intrigue, betrayal and romance. Both the protagonists were truly likeable and Julianne was wonderful. I truly liked that she was nobody's fool, who very early on realized that her cousin was using her, and let her know she knew it. The secondary characters were all well defined with reasonable depth for even those cast in minor roles. I can't say I was surprised by who the culprit was, but there were some surprises in at the end that did sneak up on me. As far as sensuality goes - it was clearly felt (though not acted on)throughout though I felt the story was steered more towards the mystery.

BOTTOM LINE - I can recommend this as a most enjoyable read with enough action and characters you care about that will keep you turning the pages in order to solve the mystery. --- Marilyn Rondeau (...)

I am a HUGE Edith Layton fan...her "The Cad" is probably one of the best romance novels ever written, and I highly recommend it (if you can find it). This book, however, is more like one of her old Avon regencies - there is more time spent chatting and recouping what's happened, than on your average episode of a daytime soap. How someone can't recognize someone who they allegedly were so close to, and who has such striking physical features,is too implausible to get past, from the get go. Snoozy...